Ben Neal�s model of a Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado.

I first came across Ben Neal�s creations when I saw a notice on the Trainz forum about his freeware that could be found at SUBPAR PRODUCTIONS.

When I visited his site I found beautiful examples of old time steam locomotives that just bring my small routes to life. He had locomotives in standard gauge and narrow gauge configurations and even had that wonderful Dockside Switcher which, was my first HO model railroad locomotive kit. I built it in 1950 while on summer vacation.

I have become a fan of Ben�s work and enjoy dropping into his site to see what new delight he has added to the roster of available equipment that he has made available to the Trainz user. I think we all would enjoy hearing from Ben and learning about his involvement with modeling and Trainz. So without further adieu, let�s meet Ben Neal!

Ben:

Well, basics first, I guess. I'm Ben Neal, I'm 18 years old and I live in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. I'm currently a high school senior and I volunteer at the Southeastern Railway Museum as a mechanic and gandy-dancer on Saturdays.

I first heard about Trainz from advertisements run in Model Railroader several years ago. I eventually looked up Trainz, and the first website I came across was Prowler's website.

I have been interested in narrow gauge for at least 10 years, but I have never had the space to make a layout in On30, my preferred scale. Instead, I've had a small N-scale layout. The fact that there was so much narrow gauge equipment available got me hooked. A few months later, I bought UTC (Universal Trainz Collection).

When I installed UTC, I saw gMax and the gamepack sitting on the CD, so I installed them. I had been wanting to make some airplanes for Flight Simulator 2002 with gMax, but I didn't download or install it because I just had the standard version, which didn't include the gMax exporter. I didn't do very much with Trainz, because UTC had weird graphical issues on the computer I had at that time. I did start a Ma & Pa 2-8-0 with gMax, but before I could finish the hard drive on my computer went bad.


2-8-0 Consolidation.

On my birthday I got a new computer that could run UTC without the graphical issues. A few weeks later, I responded to an Auran-supplied coupon for TRS2004 that was given to owners of previous versions of Trainz.

When registering my copy of TRS2004 in early 2004, I noticed a link to the Trainz forums, so I visited them. After a few months of browsing the forums, I saw a thread started by cjlear about a Uintah 0-6-2T. In the thread were some plans for that engine. So, I downloaded the plans and started making the engines.


Uintah 0-6-2T.

Thanks to help from slugsmasher and the rest of the Trainz Narrowgaugers, the engine turned out much better than it would have otherwise. I prefer narrow gauge to standard gauge, so some might be asking why I am making standard gauge steamers now. Well, the reason is that they were needed. When I started making the standard gauge steamers, there wasn't an engine to fill the gap between a USRA 0-6-0 and USRA 4-8-2. So far, every reskinable standard gauge engine I've made has fit in between those two engines. The next three (USRA 2-8-2, Ma & Pa 4-6-0, Russian 2-10-0) fit into that range as well.

I'll still be making models for Trainz for a while because I still don't have space for an On30 layout. However, I won't be making as many engines as I used to because my former prime modeling time is used volunteering at the railroad museum.

Cheers,

Ben

John:

Thanks Ben, it is amazing that at 18 years of age you have accomplished so much.

One of my favorite narrow gauge locomotives that you have created is the Uintah 2-6-6-2T


Uintah 2-6-6-2T.

That is a VERY impressive baby and looks great hauling a long load down Bill Slack�s Wild Bill route. I think you have a great future ahead of you, and I�m sure our readers appreciate your dropping in and describing some of the wonderful things items you have created for Trainz users.

Happy New Year!

John